Bernie Sanders is drawing record crowds as he pushes Democrats to 'fight oligarchy' [View all]

TEMPE, Ariz. – Sen. Bernie Sanders has emerged as a leading voice for voters opposed to President Trump's rapid push to dismantle the federal government — and frustrated with the Democratic Party's response.

Sanders and his fiery form of economic populism attacking the growing influence of billionaires and corporations in politics are not new, but interest in both message and messenger has been renewed by Trump's second term and the outsized role Elon Musk has played in cutting federal spending and pushing agencies to fire workers.

"Well, when I talked about oligarchy over the years, I think for some people it was an abstraction," Sanders said in an interview with NPR. Now though, "people understand you have to be blind not to see that what we have today is a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires."

(snip)

For his part, Sanders is not surprised his longstanding message seems to be resonating with people across the ideological spectrum:

"Because if you're a working class Republican, you don't think it makes a lot of sense to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest people in this country and then cut the [Department of Veterans Affairs], go after Social Security and make $800 billion cuts in Medicaid," he said. "Republican, independent, Democrat… very few people think that makes any sense at all."

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/22/nx-s1-5334488/bernie-sanders-fight-oligarchy-tour-trump-musk-doge-democrats